1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to multiple target tracking (MTT) where hundreds or even thousands of targets are present in each frame of data and more particularly to a method for discriminating against and rejecting false target blips and tracks for optimizing target tracking.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the areas of national defense, air traffic control at busy airports, tracking of the thousands of satellites and other space objects in orbit around the earth, and tracking of the tens of thousands of asteroids in orbit around the sun, the ability for proper target tracking is problematic. Density of traffic near busy airports will increase by a factor of approximately 30 with the increased use of the Global Positioning System, thus requiring simultaneous tracking of several hundred aircraft near airports. This will lead to a genuine need for an Intelligent Target Tracking Processor (ITTP) chip for use in air traffic control applications.
Collision avoidance systems for individual aircraft and automobiles and tracks on congested freeways and busy downtown intersections also have a genuine need for efficient target tracking.
An authoritative reference on recent state of the art of multiple target tracking exists in the book Multiple-Target Tracking with Radar Applications by Samuel Blackman, 1986. Blackman, Samuel S., Multiple-Target Tracking with Radar Applications, 1986, section 14.2, Artech House.
During MTT, real targets can be identified by correlating with known specific characteristics and false targets can be discriminated against by testing against a much broader set of criteria. The current related art does not adequately combine the discrimination and correlation processes to optimize the MTT process.